The leader of a Danish pro-Palestinian group has vowed to extend their campaign for clearer labelling of goods produced on Israeli settlements after their advertisements were removed from public buses.
Fathi el-Abed, the chairman of the Danish Palestinian Friendship Association, says that the group will spread their message nationwide and throughout the Danish territories.
Last Thursday, Copenhagen's public transport agency Movia ordered advertisements sponsored by the association to be removed from 35 buses in the Danish capital after reportedly receiving 100 complaints. The advertisements depicted two women alongside the statement: "Our conscience is clean! We neither buy products from the Israeli settlements nor invest in the settlement industry."
Israeli settlements in Palestine contravene article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that an occupying power must not transfer its population into its occupied territories. A recent report by Human Rights Watch said that Palestinian children were being employed in hazardous agricultural work in the settlements. Israel maintains that the settlements are legal.
An umbrella group representing more than 100 settlements in the West Bank reported that the Israeli settler population was predicted to grow by 4% last year, more than double Israel's nationwide growth rate.
El-Abed says that the advertisements called only for clearer labelling so that Danish consumers could boycott products produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The settlements are considered illegal under international law.
"The problem now is that everything is coming in labelled as 'made in Israel'. Nobody knows what comes from the settlements or from Israel itself," says el-Abed.
El-Abed stresses that the campaign is in line with the Danish and European Union position on labelling of Israeli products.
Last month, foreign ministers from 16 EU countries signed a letter calling for stricter labelling of settlement-produced goods, which was sent to the EU's foreign policy head Federica Mogherini. As well as the Danish foreign minister, the letter was signed by French, Spanish, British and Italian ministers, with only the German foreign minister among the five biggest EU members not signing it.
The adverts were first displayed last Monday and were removed after only four days. El-Abed says that the association paid for two weeks of advertising and are considering legal action unless the advertisements are reinstated.
A spokesperson for Movia said the advertisements would not be reinstated but declined to comment further.
The Movia board today rejected allegations that it had come under pressure from the Israeli embassy and the right-wing Danish People's Party to drop the advertisements.
The board also said they had received complaints that the advertisements were reminiscent of Nazi behaviour during the second world war.
The Israeli government has previously criticised the labelling of goods as being from Israeli settlements. In response to EU moves for labelling, Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "This is a mistake, it is counterproductive, it does not serve the cause of peace and it is not fair to single Israel out while the EU does not do this in any other place on the planet. Ultimately the issue of settlements will be resolved in peace talks with the Palestinians that we hope will start soon."
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About the writer
Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.
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